The CTC® Process Is A Community-wide Approach That Develops A Broad Base Of Support And Teamwork.

 

As a community-wide prevention planning effort, Centre County Communities That Care® works to:

• Identify core community beliefs and to solidify a community vision for positive youth development
• Guide the policies, practices, and programs that can have the greatest impact on problem behaviors, such as substance abuse, teen pregnancy, delinquency, school drop-out, and violence
• Promote a systematic approach that involves all segments of the community to maximize existing community resources
• Foster a role for every community member to play in promoting a safe and healthy environment for youth development; No single organization, strategy, person, or institution must address local challenges alone

CTC® is unique in that it is:

• inclusive–engaging all areas of the community in promoting healthy development
• proactive–identifying and addressing priority areas before young people become involved in problem behaviors, targeting early predictors of problems rather than waiting until problems have become entrenched in young people's lives
• based on rigorous research from a variety of fields-sociology, psychology, education, public health, criminology, medicine, and organizational development
• community-specific–rather than a "cookie cutter" approach. Each community uses it's own data-based profile to craft a comprehensive long-range plan for strengthening existing resources and filling identified gaps

The Communities That Care® operating system helps communities:

• mobilize and engage all members of the community who have a stake in healthy futures for children and youth; including elected key leaders. youth, parents. law enforcement. schools, local youth and family serving agencies and organizations, the faith community, the business community. and residents
• establish a shared vision. a common language, and a collaborative planning structure to integrate diverse community efforts addressing youth and family issues
• establish priorities for action based on a data-based profile of community strengths and challenges
• define clear and measurable outcomes that can be tracked over time to show progress and ensure accountability
• identify gaps in the current response to priorities
• select programs and strategies that have demonstrated effectiveness to fill identified gaps
• evaluate progress toward desired outcomes